Artist commemorates first Cedar Rapids cop killed

One hundred twenty five years ago, William McDaniel became the first Cedar Rapids cop killed in the line of duty.

In 1987, Jeff Stevens walked into a gay bar, shot his lover three times, then turned the .357-caliber Magnum on himself.

Today, disabled and having served his time, Jeff has honored Capt. McDaniel by sketching a portrait of how the 47-year-old policeman might have looked, using as a model his great grandson John McDaniel, 46, a 23-year veteran on the force.

“They didn't have a picture back then,” Jeff says. “I just took his image and doctored it up.”

The black and white sketch of Capt. McDaniel includes the bowler-type hat of the day, high collared uniform, long bushy mustache and sideburns, sharp steely eyes.

“I figured he didn't wear glasses because he needed good eyesight,” Jeff says.

The fact that Jeff, 50, who pleaded guilty to attempted murder, would even care about a cop might surprise, until you know the rest of the story.

On that snowy December day in 1987, Jeff had left his job as a security guard at Merchants National Bank. Inside Confetti's Lounge, at Sixth Street and Fourth Avenue SE, he wielded two large caliber pistols. He fired one shot into the ceiling, shot his lover of six months in the abdomen and hip, then put the .357-caliber Magnum below his chin and fired up, the bullet emerging from the top of his forehead.

For nearly a year, Jeff recovered at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. He spent 9 1/2 years in Mount Pleasant and Rockwell City correctional facilities. He talks with a slight lisp from missing part of his tongue and walks with a limp due to permanent nerve damage.

“I don't want to diminish what I did,” he says, admitting his was a crime of passion. “It is completely out of character for me to do that.”

As evidence, Jeff earned a two-year law enforcement degree while in prison. And he keeps a 1990 letter received while he was incarcerated that confirms the selection of his drawing of the state of Iowa as the official patch to be worn by state corrections guards, a patch they wear to this day.

An artist all of his life, Jeff supplements his Social Security income by designing patches for an Oregon company.

Since 2004, Jeff has sketched dozens of portraits and pictures for the Cedar Rapids Police Department and built several model cars. He's also sketched for the Fire Department and the Linn County Sheriff's Office.

Jeff also volunteers as a receptionist 15 hours a week at the new police substation on First Avenue SE and rings the bell for the Salvation Army.

“It keeps my busy,” he says. “My art work has gotten better since my crime, or maybe I've just gotten more interested in it.”

No doubt, sketching everything from the three-wheeled motorcycles and “Parkettes” badges meter readers used to wear to fallen officers such as McDaniel has piqued Jeff's interest in the history of the police department.

The death of Capt. McDaniel early Jan. 7, 1885, came after the murder of a Cedar Rapids man during a drunken card game. While chasing a suspect across an icy bridge north of Solon, the officer was struck and killed by a late train. (See my Ramblin' blog at GazetteOnline for details.)

Finishing the sketch of McDaniel last November, Jeff gave it to the police department as he's done his other drawings.

“The Lord gave me a gift,” Jeff says, “so I just pass it on.”